More User Reviews:

Was suprised at how hazy this was,the color was a hazy orange,decent head that left some lace.Hop presence was the dominant in the aroma floral and a little grassy.Good balance of malt and hop here,real fruity and fresh tasting.A good well balanced pale ale.

Another unfiltered offering from Mad River ... pours a cloudy/hazy light amber beer topped with a pure white head, settling to a bubbly lace. A couple of chunks here and there ... but that's the yummy stuff.

A bit perfume-like in the nose, with notes of yeast, bread/raw dough, pepper and fermenting beer. Some esters, too.

A smooth, even bodied beer with a slight chewiness. Malt flavours are thin and fairly neutral overall, lending to more of the body of the brew, with a mild sweetness in the background. Hop flavour is uniquely sharp, becoming more pronounced by the beer's spritzy carbonation. Very dry and crisp; a bit reminiscent of an English Pale Ale in the feel on the palate. Nice citrus snap to the hops, and spicy with some hints of salt and white pepper. Malt sweetness pulls through right after the hops with suggestions of honey, providing a rather nice balance. Gets a bit fruity as the beer warms; peachy. Finish is a bit dough-ish/yeasty and dry.

A really nice Pale Ale. Sturdy, very drinkable and refreshing to quaff.

Clean, fresh, grassy hop malt aroma, a little bready on the second whiff, gold with a little amber color, Initial sweet malt taste, with just a touch of hops aftertaste. Reminded me of a fine European pilsner. Nice beer, but the aroma promises more than the taste delivers

Taste: Rich malt sweetness of milled malt and honey, hops take a bite into the palate with a spicy bitterness that keeps clean. Flowery hints and a mild fruitiness hit in the middle and the malt flavour seems cracker like. Suggestions of nutmeg and white pepper come from the spiciness of the hops. Leaning towards the dry side with a grain and spicy finish.

Notes: This is their flagship beer, pretty much your all American session brew as well as a fall back beer. I brew I would want in my fridge more often than others. 4.5% abv.

Pours a cloudy, medium yellow, with an appearance of overcarbonation, judging by the tall, rocky, foam head that resulted from a slow and careful pour. The head drops quickly enough, however, and retains a small frothy film head all the way down.
Aroma is grass and hay, a little pine, and a sweet caramel malt backbone.
Mouthfeel has a peppery, hops bite, and seems overcarbonated.
Taste is mostly pine, lemonrind, and grassy hops. There is a rough, bitter character to the predominant hops, and this imparts a sharp biting character. The sweet malt emerges as the glass warms, and lends a touch of balancing smoothness. The finish is dry and bitter, and leaves a rough, astringent aftertaste.
Overall, a little too rough and out of balance. Still, this is worth a try if you enjoy a sharp, hoppy pale ale.

12 ouncer, lacking any freshness dating. Pours a cloudy yellowish very wheat like shade of amber, white head, tiny bubble film and respectable lacing. Nose is pleasingly floral. This is a tasty light, flavorfull and refreshing quaffer of an APA. Its nicely hopped, with citric notes and piney. Its light to medium bodied, and finishes with a smoothness that makes you want to suck down a few more. Alas, I only had one bottle, too bad.

Smell: creamy citrus hops, pepper, some maltiness, and a hint of honey.

Taste: The hop flavors come first with some tart citrus rind, floral notes, then a bit of spicey pepper character, the malt is balancing with some effort all the while with a tea-like flavor and plain bisquits, also a hint of alcohol.

Mouthfeel: soft , the malt makes for a fairly full feel.

Drinkability: A very drinkable APA with some of the expected flavors as well as a good dose of unique character, especially the hops. The malt balances the strong floral quality , but just barely imo, goes down easy none the less.

Tap @ Pizza Port Solana Beach. Hazy gold with a big white head. Floral, grassy nose. Crisp, hop flavor with white pepper, citrus, peach, and a very small amount of malt. Refreshing. Yet, I was happy to have this on tap instead of being forced into buying a 6-pack. I wish it was easier to buy singles...

This is another standard California pale ale, lighter in color than Sierra Nevada. The hops are at play here, as is to be expected. What I didn't expect was how floral and perfumey the hops were, just a little too much. It's interesting to see that for their pale ale, Mad River eschewed the typical West Coast grapefruit hop quality in favor of a more German character, but I think they overdid it.

Still, one becomes accustomed to the flavor relatively quickly, and Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale Ale settles comfortably into the role of a session beer. The malts are light and crackery, and the finish is dry but not astringent. The mouthfeel is ample and pleasing, while the drinkability is as good as could be desired. It's a fine beer, with a single glitch, and a confusing name. (Despite this being brewed by Mad River, the beer is called Steelhead, which is the name of another West Coast brewery.)

Finally, I have another big criticism to make and it has nothing to do with the contents of the bottle, but rather the bottle itself, or more specifically, the small label on the neck. Without exception, every bottle in my six pack has had a poorly attached label on the neck of the bottle. After twisting open the bottle, the neck label has come loose and fallen off. This is not a big deal, really, unless it falls off during the pour and lands in your glass, in the middle of the beer. (This happened to me. Twice.) Watch out for loose labels! Nobody wants a tiny piece of paper (with dried stickum on one side) floating in his or her beer. Hopefully this is a temporary problem for Mad River, and future neck labels will be as adhesive as all get out.

Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale Ale is very pale in color, about the color of a light lager or pilsner, but without the head. There was virtually no head or lacing. The pour also dislodged some rather large clumps of yeast/turds from the bottom of the bottle, that turned the bright beer ruddy with large globs of poop. I really dislike it when beers have this much sediment. The beer smells faintly malty, but I don't want to swirl it around too much or else I'll dissolve the junk at the bottom of the glass. The beer is surprising not dry, but sweet with a very orangey hop flavor and little bitterness. Carbonation is too low and the alcohol flavor too pronounced.

Appearance: Cloudy hazed pale orange golden glow thick fluffy white head leaves big chunks of intricate lacing, nice. Aroma: Citrus peel, grapefruit hop tones matched with pale biscuit malts giving the beer a nice sweetness. Taste: Surprisingly alot sweeter than I was expecting touch of sugar and breadiness with fruit undertones, along with a zesty hop bite that is just right in the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied nice easy going carbonation goes down incredibly smoothly I could see why this is Mad River's flagship brew. Drinkability: I like a nice pale ale that retains a good bit of sweetness yet let's the hop flavors shine as well, good mix of flavors very drinkable brew in my book.

I moved to Humboldt county a few years back and this has been my "go to" beer a good amount of the time since I moved here. Safe bet, easy drinker.

Appearance; First time I've poured one into a glass. Bronze, gold when held up to light. Tiny champagne like bubbles stream to the top, moderate carbonation. 1 inch head, fast receding into nothing. No lacing on this one, moderate lacing at times.

Smell; Subdued. Slight grapefruit, tangerine, and lemon rind. A tad mossy/earthy if you look for it, which is where it bears a slight similarity to the original California APA, Sierra Nevada. But, it's slight, and mild. A bit of chalky pale malt hits the nose on the freshest specimens. The weak point of this beer is the nose.

Taste; The slight citrus hits first and plays ping pong with the sweet pale malt on the palate. The malt wins in the finish, lingering with a doughy/biscuity flavor, slight underlying fresh grain. The citrus is gone by the finish, and the slight forest moss is the only hop flavor that continues to spar with malt at this point. The fresher you get this beer, the more the doughy malt really sticks out in the flavor profile, and this is most pleasing for my taste buds. Handles the shelf well, but the fresher the better.

Mouthfeel; Right alongside the taste as the best aspects of this ale. It's got more heft than your average pale, easily medium bodied, but still and clean and dry finish. Fine, delicate carbonation gives a slight seltzer like feel to it. Well executed.

Overall; Good session beer. If you are a fan of Scrimshaw pils, you will probably be a fan of this slightly heavier/maltier ale with a similar hop flavor profile. It's got a better malt profile than most Nor-Cal brews, most definitely in the top 25% of Nor-Cal beer, which might be saying less than you imagine.